Improvement in bung sockets and plugs for barrels



wUivirm) STATES ArtNr trice.

STEPHEN J. GEOGHEGAN AND VILLAM ULMER, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUNG SOCKETS AND PLUGS FOR BARRLS.4

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,747, (lated lfebruary 24, 1863.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, STEPHEN J. GEOGHE- GAN, machinist, and WILLIAM ULMER, brewer, both of the city, county, and State of N ew York, have invented a certain new and useful Bring-Hole Socket and Plug for Barrels; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the same, which we have prepared with a view to the obtaining of Letters Patent therefor.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a top or face view of our plug and` socket complete. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the same and also through the stave of the barrel in which it is fixed for use.

Similar letters indicate like parts in both the iigures.

Our invention is intended more particularly for beer-barrels and the like, which are iilled, moved, and emptied at short intervals. It is' well known to those in the trade that the frequent insertion and removal of the bung in such barrels causes a rapid destruction of the stave in which the bung-hole is bored. In beer-barrels asordinarily constructed and used, the stave in which the bungis inserted fails much earlier than the other parts of the barrel, and its failure necessitates either the disuse of the entire struct-ure or the very extensive repair incident to the removal and substitution of a stave.

Barrels suitable for beer are purchased ata cost of several dollars each, and an economy inthe point of durability thereof is obtained by the use of our invention, which is of great practical importance.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation by the aid of the drawings.

A is a socket, of malleable cast-iron or other suitable material, made in the form represented, and secured by the screws B in a hole of like form in the stave C. XVe apply this socket in the position ordinarily chosen for the bung, and make the hole to receive it of so small size that it fits very snugly and tightly therein. To render the `joint perfectly tight, we apply, before applying the socket, a suit-l able cement of white lead or the like, taking care that none of the cement is present on or very near the inner surfaces of the barrel. The

entire depth of this socket is equal to or a lit tle less than the thickness of the staves, and

its exterior forms a portion of and coincides` with the general cylindrical or slightly-swelled exterior of that portion of the barrel.

D is a anged plug, of the same or different material, tapped within the socket A in the manner shown, and adapted to form a tight joint therewith, which may be opened as often as necessary without jarring or in anywiseaffecting the genera-l structure either of the entire barrel or any portion thereof. lts interior is cored or otherwise hollowed, as represented, to diminish its weight, and to facilitate its insertion and removal by the aid of any suitable wrench or tool inserted in the square part d of the interior in the manner which is obvious.

rlhe flange D presses very tightly upon a washer, E, of leather or other suitable soft material, so as to secure the contents of the barrel against escape and also against the access of air; but these functions can, with proper care in the manufacture and use of our invention, be well secured by the socket and -plug alone, properly formed and applied, without the necessity ofthe soft washer. To accomplish this, it is necessary, simply, to finish the surface so that they will apply together with great accuracy, and to screw the plug D D with greatforce into the socket A.

There are many forms in which our invention may be made other than those represented. The lugs A', for example, may be differently placed or increased in number, or may be widened until they become a continuous broad flange extending quite around the socket, and containing any number of screws B or other suitable fastenings; or these lugs or their equivalent ilange may be on the inside of the stave instead of the outside; but in such case they must be put in their proper position and secured before the heads are secured in the barrel. rlhe plug D D may be also susceptible of great Variation in form without materially affecting its character, so long as the interior is properly matched or fitted to the wrench cr tool which is to turn it,and the plug is adapted to sink even or flush with the outer surface of the socket.

rlhe necessity for occasionally rolling or otherwise presenting barrels upon the earth or upon other barrels or the like, so as to rest temporarily or permanently upon the socket and plug, renders it impera-tive that neither shall project to any considerable extent beyond the line of the general exterior of the barrel.

Our invention provides a surface perfectly uniform in effect for all purposes with the other portion of the exterior of the barrel. Itis desirable also, for many reasons, that neither the socket nor the plug should either extend far into the barrel or fail to reach through the stave. .p

It is by our invention made pretcable to secure all the ends desired without consuming any of the space within the barrel or adding one ounce thereto.

The contents of onr barrel, when lilled, is or may readily be precisely equal to what it would be with an ordinary wooden bung, and our barrel is measured by gaging or otherwise with all the accuracy which can be obtained with common bungs.

Our plug and socket are very cheaply inade by common machinery, and inay be made with still less labor by the aid of machinery speciall y adapted therefor. In any case the cost is far less than of substituting a new stave at short intervals.

The material which We have tested for the plug and socket is brass plated with tin; but we do not confine ourselves to any particular material, either for the parts themselves or for their covering or protection.

Our invention is applicable7 of course, to all sizes o'lbarrcls, whether designated as such or as casks, puncheons, kegs, hogsheads, Snc.

Having now fully described our invention,

what We claiin as new, and desire to secure by- Letters Patent, is-

The socket A and plug D d, adapted to apply to the stave C, and to sink even with the exterior surface thereof, substantially as and with the effect herein set forth.

STEPHEN J. GEOGHEGAN. VILLIAM ULMER. Vitnesses:

Tir-lonas D. Srnrsox, NV. A. HnNDRrciisoN. 

